Vaqueros Place Second at 3C2A Championships
By Jimmy Friery
COSTA MESA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Swimming and Diving team placed second at the three-day 3C2A Championships this weekend with 310 points. After winning it in 2024 and earning second in 2025, this marks the third straight year the Vaqueros have had a top-two finish in the state.
At the end of day two, the Vaqueros were tied for third and among a group of five teams all within 13 points of each other. A strong day three allowed Santa Barbara to top that group—down to the final event—six points above third-place Mt. San Antonio and 11 above fourth-place Sierra. The winners, Long Beach, cruised with 500.5 points.
Always solid in the relays, the Vaqueros had four top-two finishes in five relays. Finishing a close second in both the 200 Free and 400 Medley Relays, the Vaqueros got redemption in the 200 Medley. Makena Quinones, May Guidoux, Trinity Link, and Leah Rummelhoff clocked in at 1:47.44 to crown themselves State champions.
In the final event, the 400 Free Relay, Santa Barbara's 3:33.53 time was also good for second; most notably, it was better than fifth-place Sierra and sixth-place Mt. San Antonio. The result thus secured the Vaqueros' second-place finish for the meet.
Individually, Trinity Link can call herself a State champion in two events. First in the 100 Fly, she swam a personal-best 57.23, winning with one-tenth of a second to spare. Then, she broke her own school record in the 100 IM (set at the Western State Conference Championships), clocking in with a blistering 57.56 time. Link also placed third in the 200 IM (2:07.68).
May Guidoux also was an individual medalist. Her 1:05.01 in the 100 Breast was good for third on the day, but best in program history. In the 200 Breast, she cut five seconds off her previous time for a third-place 2:23.99.
Katie Strohl deserves mention for her effort on the relays. She swam in both of the second-place 200 and 400 Free Relay teams—the latter being the very important final event.
It caps another remarkable season for the Vaqueros' juggernaut Aquatics program. Women's Water Polo has finished top-three in the state in each of the past five years, with two championships. Now, Women's Swimming and Diving has had three straight top-two finishes, with one championship.
1st place finishes (State champions):
200 Medley Relay – Makena Quinones-May Guidoux-Trinity Link-Leah Rummelhoff (1:47.44)
100 Fly – Trinity Link (57.23)
100 IM – Trinity Link (57.56)
2nd place finishes:
200 Free Relay – Trinity Link-Makena Quinones-Katie Strohl-Leah Rummelhoff (1:37.69)
400 Medley Relay – Makena Quinones-May Guidoux-Trinity Link-Leah Rummelhoff (3:58.80)
400 Free Relay – Trinity Link-Katie Strohl-May Guidoux-Leah Rummelhoff (3:33.53)
3rd place finishes:
200 IM – Trinity Link (2:07.68)
100 Breast – May Guidoux (1:05.01)
200 Breast – May Guidoux (2:23.99)